Scientists named the element nihonium after Japan—the place where it was first discovered. Scientists spent years trying to create one atom of nihonium before finding success. A chemistry professor explains the properties of the element and how people can perform chemistry experiments on one atom. 

Concepts

chemical elements, the periodic table

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Additional Tags

science

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Instructional Ideas

• Explain the concept of the Island of Stability in more detail
• Create a map showing where each element on the periodic table was discovered

Classroom Considerations

• Relies on prior knowledge of how scientists create synthetic elements 
• Nihonium stars in episode 113 of a series of 118 videos
  

• This video is hosted on YouTube

Pros

• Works well in traditional or flipped classes
• Offers subtitles in English and Portuguese for ease of note taking

Cons

• None

Common Core

SL.9-10.2 SL.11-12.2 RST.9-10.4 RST.11-12.4